Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Imagine What Could Be...

Thank you all for your kind words regarding the blog. It is rather exciting, isn't it?? I am going to try to post the blog on Wednesdays. That way it will be easier for everyone to know when the new posts come out. I will do my best!!

I need to officially report the results of the poll. The question was "What are your plans for siding?" Colored stain won with 4 votes, paint came next with 2 votes, and wood stain brought up the rear with 1 vote. Good participation!! Only 3 out of the 10 were tardy in responding!! I have to give some information to the 2 voters that chose paint. The experts say (and of course I mean Heath) that we might want to stay away from paint. Paint peels and chips - as we can see on the main cabin. Stain is great because it does not peel or chip - but only fades with time. And if you like the look of paint - you can get solid colored stain that appears just like paint. Next time you are at Home Depot, pick up the pamphlet of exterior wood stains by Behr. The title on the cover states "Behr Solid and Semi-Transparent Exterior Wood Stains." It is shocking that there are so many different kind of colors to choose from!! And whatever color you choose, they show what it will look like in a solid color (like paint) or a semi-transparent (that shows the wood grain). It will be interesting to see what color choices people are thinking of!!

The current poll - as you can see - addresses when everyone is planning to go up to Novi next year. I really want to have a countdown on this site but we need an actual date to countdown to!! Also, the countdown function on this blog is broken at the moment. I am hoping to find one on-line that I can add, but when I have attempted to do so - it just gives me an error message. So this is me stalling!! One important bit of information shared to me by Shawn and Camille is that the pastor/teacher retreat next year is Sunday August 2 - Wednesday August 5. It is my understanding that it is a Union meeting, therefore this will affect Shawn, Camille, Jen, Uncle Bill, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Sherrie. So take this into consideration!!

The photos posted below were sent to us by Jan and David Ellis. I think all of you know them. They relocated to Washington State years ago. Recently David took a second job working at a hospital part-time but it was nearly an hour away from their home. So they bought a piece of land and built a 12' x 16' cabin on it!!!!! Imagine that!! They stay there regularly. I came to the conclusion, if they could stay in it every week - then we could definitely stay in ours one week a YEAR!!!! Just look at the placement of the windows/door. They actually did 2 large windows only on one side to maximize the room inside. But this just gives us an idea what ours will look like. It's fun to visualize our cottages - isn't it?? I can't wait!!

OK...until next time. Please feel free to comment on things you would like to see on this blog - or any new ideas you have. They would be greatly appreciated!!







Thursday, August 21, 2008

Back to Reality...

Now we are all home!! )= Talking with Shawn and Camille last week... we hope the excitement of the cottages continues for the rest of the year!! Hopefully this blog will keep the interest alive!! I aim to keep you all apprised of plans, building material deals, and like Corey, a countdown until we go back to our beloved Novi. Also I will report the gossip that occurs down the Latimer train - regarding the cottages only - of course!!

For a bit of news, I hear that Rick has obtained all of his windows and premium decking materials free of cost!! That is very exciting. I believe that he is the first - but please correct me if I am wrong.

Attached are some pictures of the sites and the hard work that was involved this year. I am going to try to write once a week about the project - but be easy on me - since this is my first attempt at the blogging world!!



Aerial view of the sites




















Stake your claim!! Will this work??